


Bullheaded Bastard

by DryadOffical (HalfDryad)



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Apologies, Dialogue Light, Fluff, M/M, Mild Angst, Romance, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27023932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalfDryad/pseuds/DryadOffical
Summary: It was shortly after the two of them pulled their con in Ohio, some people were just so damn gullible, they were hid out in a small cave where they knew no one would find the two of them. They had a fire going, counting up their money and laughing at the scheme they pulled. Hosea was leant against the wall, blonde hair messy and falling into his face as he laughed, the light of the fire casting a glow onto the older man's face.“Ain’t you just a sight.” Dutch finds the words falling out of his mouth in a slightly breathless whisper, his fingers curled around some money in his hands that was forgotten as he… well gazed at Hosea standing above him. Hosea looked down at him, his chuckles dying down a bit, and his smile softens into something more private.
Relationships: Hosea Matthews/Dutch van der Linde
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Bullheaded Bastard

**Author's Note:**

> While I've been a part of this fanbase since the second game came out, this is my first fic for the damn thing, because of a recent play through of mine, I finally got even more into it than before. Plus I just simply have a soft spot for a couple of old men in love, and I just love these two in general in canon and what I've read of the fics people have wrote on here. 
> 
> Now it's a bit of a divergence, my own feeling of Micah getting in there and talking about wanting him gone, how I think that would help a bit with how Dutch generally is. 
> 
> This also might be a series, if I feel up to it, but for now it's just as is. 
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy it! I don't know how much demand there is for fic anymore, but honestly I'm always one to post fic late. 
> 
> And for anyone just now reading my stuff, I do a lot of stuff with minimal or no dialogue more than anything else!

Dutch has always thought Hosea was a better man than him, a handsome man, an all around…  _ good man.  _ From the time they met when they tried to rob each other on the side of a road to Chicago to the day he died right in front of Dutch. 

Dutch could watch the man act and worm his way into or out if any situation that called for a few charming words. While Dutch could do it too, no one was better than Hosea Matthews. Twenty years later and Dutch still loved watching the man do what he did best. 

It took time, for a bond to form, but it honestly took less time than either of them had thought it would have taken. Maybe it was because they were young and stupid, too quick to trust, but still. It was a perfect partnership, in all forms of the word. And Dutch was more than happy to let Hosea into his life. And Hosea was simply the same. 

It was shortly after the two of them pulled their con in Ohio, some people were just so damn gullible, they were hid out in a small cave where they knew no one would find the two of them. They had a fire going, counting up their money and laughing at the scheme they pulled. Hosea was leant against the wall, blonde hair messy and falling into his face as he laughed, the light of the fire casting a glow onto the older man's face. 

“Ain’t you just a sight.” Dutch finds the words falling out of his mouth in a slightly breathless whisper, his fingers curled around some money in his hands that was forgotten as he… well gazed at Hosea standing above him. Hosea looked down at him, his chuckles dying down a bit, and his smile softens into something more private. 

“What kind of sight Dutch?” His tone is light and teasing, and still there was a slight flush that came up onto his cheeks, a flush that wasn’t from the heat of the campfire. Dutch stands, and takes a few steps closer to Hosea, his hands brushing against the other mans. They were silent, the only sound between the two was the crackling of the fire and the faint wind blowing outside the cave they were in. 

“Like a sight I’ve never seen before in my life.” It’s a whisper of a confession, Dutch’s normally booming voice soft and gentle like Hosea has never heard in the time they had known one another. Dutch presses in closer, feeling a little rush in his chest as Hosea’s fingers curl a little tighter around his own. 

The kiss was slow to start, the two with their eyes open, fluttering shut only when their breath started to mingle and warm each other’s mouths. Hosea moves closer first, lifting his hands and pressing them against the side of Dutch’s neck, holding him there as they kiss. Small pecks against one another’s mouths, then the two pressing closer to each other, Dutch pushing Hosea slowly against the wall of the cave. Dutch wraps his arms around Hosea’s waist, pressing his hands flat against the other man's back. 

That night, the two fall asleep with their money hidden away, and wrapped up in each other’s arms. 




Over the years, their kisses are hidden in the dark, away from prying eyes, and their words of care for one another are still said out in the open, covered in a way that only other good ol cowboys like them would recognize. 

Dutch never realized how much he could care for another person in the way he cared for Hosea. He loved how the man didn’t take any of his shit but still had an open ear for plans and potential investments. Loved how Hosea came up with mastermind plans of his own that always ended well. Over the years that never changed, not once. Until it did. 

But that’s not for this current narrative, for now there’s focus on the good times, Hosea thought about them a lot more after Blackwater, about the times where the crew was smaller and they were comfortable and happy. They hid from the outside world, and Hosea really did love Bessie. They loved each other, but not romantically, both a cover for the other. Bessie told Hosea first, after sometime when they were together away from the gang, and he just laughed for a bit, and told her about Dutch. 

Bessie wasn’t surprised. She saw the way the two were with each other when she had first met the crew. It was sweet really, and she was happy to keep that secret if his. They both loved each other, and it decistated Hosea when she passed, peaceful as it was. That year following was one of the worst of his life. 

He went back to Dutch, gushing over how Arthur and John had grown in the time he was gone, the two boys happy to have the other man back in their lives once more. Dutch kissed him until the two were breathless and misty eyed that night, holding one another close. And Hosea told Dutch stories of Bessie and he, good and bad. How she knew about him and how she was in a similar position. Dutch held him close, chin resting on top of his head, Hosea’s cheek resting in his bare chest as he talked softly. They had each other once again. 




Time went on and the gang grew with more and more people, times changed, as did the crew as well. Then they were in Valentine, then moving on from there once again due to a mission gone south. Everything going wrong and no one really knowing why, simply thinking back luck and the wrong people showing up for them. Now they were settled outside of Rhodes, a nice little place off the river that Hosea liked a lot. He enjoyed fishing from the little dock that was there, taking out a boat when he was feeling up to it and getting a better catch that way. 

Hosea sat on the dock, the sun was rising in the sky and it was still cool enough to be comfortable being outside, slightly humid, but still nice. After a moment he felt a hand rest gently on his shoulder, fingers brushing up against his neck, and the cool feeling of the rings on the hand instantly alerted him to who was standing behind him. 

“Good morning Dutch.” Hosea chuckles and turns his head just enough to look up at the other man, who smiles down at him with a smile so gentle that it brings Hosea back two decades, a smile that was just for him. So he gives the other cowboy one of his own. They share a soft kiss between the two of them, the camp was quiet, but both of them were pretty sure the entire camp knew in some way or another. They were devoted to one another, in every form of the word. 

“How are you up to this morning, Hosea?” Dutch asks, taking a seat next to Hosea, his broad hand resting gently on his knee. The con man hums softly, brushing his pinky against Dutch’s own. 

“About how we have only just managed to escape from every bad thing that’s happened in the last few months, Dutch. I don’t like it. Something seems wrong, off.” Hosea curls his pinky around Dutch’s, relaxing in the seat he was in as he watched the river flow in front of him. He tried to ignore the way Dutch furrowed his brow, confused. 

“Things are always bound to catch up to us sometimes Hosea.” Dutch points out. 

“Not like this.” Hosea shakes his head. “I don’t like what’s been happening.” 

“Do you think it’s someone here?” Hosea clenches his jaw, thinking about the question, even though he could have answered instantly. “ _ Hosea. _ ” Dutch’s voice becomes more serious. 

“Yes I do Dutch, and I think you know who’s name I’m going to say.” Hosea turns towards him, pointing one finger into the younger man's chest. “The man who seemed so unconcerned that Arthur was missing a couple of weeks ago.” It was obvious to everyone that Hosea didn’t like Micah, but to be fair, the rest of the camp save for mostly Dutch, also didn’t like the man. 

But Hosea thinks he hated the man the most. How it seemed like he was trying to steer Dutch down a path that Dutch hadn’t originally intended to walk down. How he was something of a different person. And Dutch had always been paranoid, but now he was more paranoid than Hosea had ever seen him, and it  _ scared _ Hosea, it really did. Like he was losing grip on the man he loved and adored, seeing him turn into something they both hated. 

And Hosea can see a glimmer in Dutch’s eyes when he points it out, he knows Dutch, knows him better than probably anyone in the camp they were in. He loved the rest of the gang, they both did, they were a family. But Micah Bell was the one person Hosea thinks he hates more than anyone else. He’s hardly ever hated a person in the gang until that bastard showed up. Something just never sat right with him. 

“Will you just listen to me for once about the things I see that’s wrong. That’s gone wrong ever since that bastard showed up? It’s like you only listen to him over anyone else in the gang and while he’s had some decent plans in the past… the majority of the time they’re more dangerous than they ought to be.” 

“Hosea,” Dutch holds up a hand, trying to cut Hosea off in the middle of his speech. But Hosea grabs that hand, curling both of his own around Dutch’s broad hand. He grips it tightly. 

“No, Dutch. You’re going to listen to me right now. You don’t get to talk. We have this family, our family. Not just Arthur and John anymore, there’s more here than those two now, and I know you know that. Especially with Jack, that boy is important to everyone here. But I feel as of late you’re overlooking the family, and while I know the things you want to do are honorable, the way you’re going about them, is dangerous. More dangerous than we need to be getting into.” Hosea pulls Dutch’s hand close and presses a kiss to his knuckles as Dutch curls his fingers around Hoseas. “Please, for the sake of this  _ family,  _ take a couple of days to think on things.” With that, Hosea stands, presses the smallest kiss to Dutch’s forehead, and stands up and walks off. 




Dutch does take Hosea up on what he said, even spends a couple of days away from camp, mulling things over in his head about what has happened in the last few months with the gang. Then he goes back to camp, on the dawn of the third day, and finds Hosea, still asleep in his bed, and slips in silently next to the other cowboy. Hosea rolls over, sleepily looking up at the other. 

“So you think on things?” Hosea asks, leaning forward and pressing his forehead against Dutch’s chest. 

“I did… And I think I’ve got some people I need to apologize to. Starting with you first of all.” 

“Is that so?” Hosea grins up at Dutch, and Dutch gives him a lazy kiss. 

“I’ve been thickheaded as of late,” Hosea snorts but stays silent. “I’ve thought on things, about how Micah has been and is as a man…. I think something needs to be done about him.” 

“He’s gotta go Dutch, and I mean  _ go.  _ Because if he’s kept alive, I don’t know how long we’ll all be around after if we just make him leave.” 

“I know I know, that’s gonna be easier said than done.” Hosea pats Dutch on the chest and kisses him slowly, softly in the dim light of the early morning. 

“And we’ll figure that out once it’s good and light out.” Dutch nods, and ducks his head to kiss his partner once more. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed if you've made it here! I mostly do short fics like this, anywhere from 1k-3k words is what I do more than anything else, sometimes loosely connected, mostly interlocking headcanons if anything. 
> 
> If ya wanna chat or request another fic (I love doing little inbox drabbles!!) I'm over @/transjonmartin on tumblr and @/HalfDryad on twitter! I'm always down to chat about anything and everything if willing!


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